
Class r 7 ^ 




i\ 



SOUVENIR 

AND 

GUIDE = BOOK 




Tweed-Manning House, Ballardvale Street, North Wilmington. 



A 



TO POINTS OF INTEREST IN 

WILMINGTON, 

MASS. 

(Copyright, i ;'C--, by Arthur Thovas bond) 



J 



LIBRARY nf CONGRESS 
Two Cooles Received 

JUL 25 1904 
Cooyrlsrht Entry 

CLASS 0- XXo. No. 

COPY B 






Preface. 

^^* t^^ ^^ 

This booklet contains brief details concerning a number of sites 
selected and marked by the historical department of the Old 
Home Week Committee of Wilmington, Mass., and is intended 
to serve merely as a sort of guide to the identification of the 
places deemed of special interest ; also to supply information 
inconvenient to include in the inscriptions on the " markers. . 
The numerals attached to the different paragraphs will be found 
to coincide with numbers prominently displayed on the cards 
which have been posted. While most of the indicated points are 
along the general line of the street parade, a few are some dis- 
tance away, but are exceedingly interesting and quite worthy of 
some little trouble to visit. 



Sub Committee appointed to 
mark historical sites : 



(*) Deceased. 



Arthur T. Bond 
*Mrs. William E. Gowinj 
Mrs. D. T. Buzzell 
Miss Carrie Swain 
James E. Kelley, Esq. 
Howard M. Horton 



h^ 




Representation of the Town Seal. 



No. 1 

(Flint Street, North Wilmington) 
"FORD-BLANCHARD HOUSE," the residence of William E. 
Gowing, was erected by Cadwallader Ford about 1720, 
prior to his marriage. This venerable mansion has 
sheltered several generations of the Blanchard family, 
coming into its possession through connection with 
the Fords— William Blanchard having taken to wife, 
Betsy, the daug'.ter of Cadwallader and Elizabeth 
(Morrill) Ford, in i 8 o i. 



No. 2 

(Middlesex Avenue) 
"SQUIRE EAIVIES PLACE ', owned by Sylvester Carter— 
the one-time home of Samuel Fames, Esq., for many 
years Town Clerk of Wilmington — is very old. It is, 
without a doubt, the best example of the " gambrel " 
roof style of architecture remaining in our town. It was 
probably built by Benjamin Harnden, who bought the 
land in i 7 2 5, as he is known to have been a " house- 
wright," and to have erected many houses in this vicinity. 




IN ALL ITS STATELINESS. 



(Middlesex Avenue) 
SITE OF THE "WHITEFIELD ELM". 

On this spot, until July 5th, 1900, when it was cut down, 
stood a magnificent specimen of the native elm. Con- 
temporary with the ancient house hard by (the " Squire 
Eames Place"), tradition has it that under or near this 
tree, or its mate, (which stood across the way a little 
further South), George Whitefield, the eminent English 
divine, once preached to an out-door congregation. 
Careful research does not authenticate this legend ; and 
it is extremely doubtful if the Reverend gentleman ever 
visited Wilmington. The name was probably a senti- 
mental tribute to the man's personality, just as hundreds 
of elms are connected with the name of our first 
President, though George Washington may never have 



been in their vicinity. Whatever the real facts, our 
splenditl tree was worthily named ; and its jjictured 
rejiresentation on W'ihnington's Cor])orate Seal, and the 
granite shaft and tablet placed by the \\'ilniington 
Woman's Club to mark its site, are only consistent 
memorials of a figure which has been a salient feature 
of our landscape nearly as long as our town's life. 



No. 3 

(Middlesex Avenue) 

FEDERAL HILL", where, until a few years ago, stood the 
house of (Jol. William Hlanchard. 'Ihis gentleman was the 
first of the name to become a resident in Wilmington. 
The store, which stood nearly opposite the mansion, was 
the centre around which revolved Wilmington politics. 
The whole atmosphere of the place is pervaded with the 
memory of its distinguished owner — whose individuality 
and prominence influenced and controlled many events 
of great local importance. 



No. 4 



(Middlesex Avenue) 

SITE OF THE FIRST MEETING HOUSE, erected in 
1732, shortly after the incorporation of the Town, in 
accordance with the prescribed conditions of the Act of 
Sept 25th, 1730, which created it a township. The site 
selected was " on the rising ground about 70 poles 
Southardly of the \\'est of Daniel Killam House " — 
this spot where, for eighty years, the religious, political 
and military element of AN'ilmington found its expression, 
and made the old meeting house the rendezvous on 
every public occasion. 




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No. 5 

(Middlesex Avenue) 

THE FIRST OR OLD CEMETERY. 

At the town meeting held on September 9, 1731, it was 
voted that Joseph Lewis, Sr., Abraham Jaquith and 
Kendall Pearson " be a committee to procure a Decent 
Baring place for to Burey ye Dead in for ye Toune." 
The land — one acre and a quarter — was purchased from 
I'homas Rich, Jr., for 3 pounds, one shilling and six- 
pence ; and the deed passed May 16, 1733. The use 
to which the land was to be put was expressed in the fol- 
lowing quaint terms : 

" for a Possession of Burying Place principally or 

other use Some part of it as the Town may think fit." 
By a strange coincidence, and evidently before the deed 



was passed, the first to be interred was the young son of 
Kendall Pearson, one of the coniniittce who selected the 
site — as the slate head-stone, after all these years in per- 
fect condition, bears testimony in the last line of its 
inscription, to wit : 

" ye first Buried in this Place." 
Note : Part of the stones originally erected here have 
been removed to the new cemetery opposite. 



(Middlesex Avenue, in New Cemetery.) 

50LDIERS' nONUMENT. 

Erected by the ex- High School Associates, (an organi- 
zation created about the time of the Civil War from 
among the pupils of the old high school), who subscribed 
to a small fund for the purpose. Securely banked, this 
nucleus reached a tidy sum in 1902, and was then applied 
to the purchase of the monument and its erection on the 
site granted by the town. 



No. 6 

(Middlesex Avenue, New Cemetery.) 

TOnB OF REV. I5AAC MORRILL, for nearly 53 years min 
ister of Wilmington's first Orrhordox Church. Mr. Morrill 
came to Wilmington in 1741 and continued his pastoral 
service until his death in 1793. Energetic and fearless, 
he was with our men in the Erench and Indian Wars, 
and later, in the Revolution. His sword and military 
insignia are yet preserved. Some of his printed ser- 
mons are extant, and reflect his high literary attain- 
ments and his forcefulness of expression. 



No. 7 



Off Glen Road — a few rods through 
" Pine Hill " woods, south from marker. 

SITE OF OLD POWDER HOUSE, erected in i 8 i 4 . A 
fine old hemlock spreads its branches over the site of 
this conventional structure. Gone fully 50 years, this 
old red powder house is well remembered by some of 
our older residents who, when boys and young men, 
made this " magazine " a rendezvous for sjDorts and 
pastimes, sub ?-osa. 



No 8 

(Middlesex Avenue) 
PART OF THE OLD "BOND" PROPERTY. 

The home of James E. Kelley, Esq., Town Clerk. This 
establishment, with the mansion house nearly opposite, 
(the property now of Mr. Thomas H. McMahon) and the 
one-time bake-house and outbuildings, was owned by the 
Bond family — represented by Captain Joseph, who came 
to Wilmington about 1802, and later by his son Joseph 
Bond, Jr. and his posterity. The writer has in his pos- 
session a picture of the whole environment — when all 
the original buildings were in place, and also the original 
sign with the device, a sheaf of wheat, and the legend, 
" Joseph Bond, Baker." The part of the buildings far- 
thest South are very old, having been erected by 
Stephen Wesson, Jr. before 1759. 



No. 9 



(Church Street) 
REMODELLED OLD DEPOT BUILDING. 

Originally the depot of the Andover and Wilmington 



R. R., this structure once stood at a jioint on the R. R. 
tracks which is about oii])Ositc Dr. D. 'I'. lUizzell's home 
on Main Street. 

The old well, which was (|uite a distance in front of the 
depot, can now be seen — just over the wall. This is 
probably the only original depot building of the period 
between 1830 and 1840 now in existence. The writer 
has a jiicture of the old depot standing in its former 
position — published by a pictorial paper on the occasion 
of a competitive trial of engines in 1851. 



No. 10 

(Middlesex Avenue) 

LEVI REYNOLDS HOUSE "—so-called from a former 
owner and occupant — once stood in the South-easterly 
part of the town, near the junction of Main St. with 
Butter's Row. It was built by Kbenezer Pierce about 
I 7 I 6 . Few houses in town can compare with it in 
years, excepting the "Tweed-Manning" house on Bal- 
lardvale St. (shown on cover), which is of the type of 
the old Standish House in Duxbury, said to have been 
built in 1666. 



No. U 

(Middlesex Avenue) 

♦' ISAAC CARTER HOUSE "—the home of Samuel R. Rice 
— is quite ancient, although its modern dress hides the 
lines it once displayed as evidence of its age. Formerly 
a home of Ezra Carter, he sold it to his son Isaac Carter 
in I 8 I 7 , whose ownership has given it the name it is 
recognized by. Here " Billy " Ames, some 40 years 
ago, "kept " his little store and dispensed his hospitality 
to thirsty patrons. 



No. 12 



(Middlesex Avenue) 

SITE OF THE OLD MILLS— the saw mill on the east — 
the grist mill on the west side of the street. The saw 
mill was established by Daniel Snow shortly after his 
purchase of this property in 1702. His holding of land 
hereabouts was some 209 acres. The grist mill was 
undoubtedly created by a Jaques at a very much later 
period. The old saw pit and runway were plainly in 
evidence until within a few years. 



No 13 



(Middlesex Avenue) 

THE nORRILL HOUSE." 

Originally the homestead of the first proprietor of the 
adjacent saw mill, Daniel Snow, it later became the home 
of Kendall Pearson, by his purchase in 1722, who in 
turn sold to Benjamin Lewis in 1737, and he to 
Kev. Isaac Morrill in 1742. Several generations of 
the Morrills lived here : and it was from this house the 
late Deacon Cadwallader Morrill was buried, in i 8 8 i . 



No. i4 

(Middlesex Avenue) 

S.4BRA CARTER HOUSE ". 

'] his was once a very small establishment, sitting c'ose 
to the street, and under the giant " buttonwoods " whose 
stumps remain to show to what size and age these 
guardians of the portals had attained. 
Contemporary with the Morrill house, and once owned 
by the Morrills, it was purchased by Mr. Henry Jaques, 
and magnified to very large dimensions. The present 



house is but two thirds the size of the Jaques menage, as 
part of it was talcen away and trans])lanted near the 
junction of Middlesex and Main Sts. to form a capacious 
dwelling by itself. Here Miss Sabra Carter and her 
mother lived until recent year^i ; and here the foimer 
had her garden of llowers and built up a large business 
in seeds. 

A whole history clusters around this place which cannot 
be here included. 

('Chestnut Street.) 

BALDWIN nONUHENT." 

One of its inscriptions— which tells the story of its 
motive — is as follows : — 

" This pillar, erected in i S 9 5 by the Rumfoid Histor- 
ical Association, incorporated April 18, i 8 7 7 , marks 
the estate where, in i 7 9 3 > Samuel Thompson, Esq., 
while locating the line of the Middlesex Canal, discov- 
ered the first Pecker Apple tree, later named the 
" Baldwin." 

The house near this monument was a Butters " Garrison 
House," as was also the house next East of it — both hav- 
ing the second story projecting over the lower, in the 
days when it was necessary to guard against the danger 
of attack. 



No. 15 

(BoutwcU Street) 

BOUTWELL HOUSE ". 

The original house which stood across the way, the 
homestead of Giles Roberts at a very early date, came 
into the possession of Jonathan Boutwell, who appears 
on the tax list of Wilmington first in 1747—8 ■ ^^^ >^^"^ 
the present house have been occupied by successive 
generations of his family down to the present incumbent. 



William H. Here was the birthplace of Sewall Boutwell, 
the father of our distinguished ex-Governor and Senator, 
(leorge S. Boutwell, whose long and active political 
career is familiar to every student of National history. 



No. 16 

(Aldrich Road, near its junction with Forest Street) 

SITE OF JAQUITH GARRISON HOUSE. 

Once the hearthstone and homestead of Abraham Jaquith, 
the first of the name to set up his lares and penates in 
territory now within Wilmington limits. Long before our 
town was incorporated, Abraham Jaquith was established 
on his property now in the Westerly part of Wilmington. 
The distinguished honor of having been the first perma- 
nent settlers in Wilmington territory certainly lies 
between the Jaquiths and the Harndens. 

No. 17 

(Aldrich Road) 

" THE GREAT HEflLOCK " on the " David Jaquith Place," 
is said to be the largest of its kind in New England. It 
was called " The Great Hemlock " 75 years ago — when 
Mrs. Roxanna Carter, now 98 years of age, came to town 
a young bride : and certainly its dimensions indicate it 
to be a veritable patriarch. It measures nineteen feet in 
circumference at its base ; is estimated to be 60 feet in 
height ; and its broadest expanse is 72 feet. 



No. 18 



(Shawsheen Avenue) 
WALKER HOUSE ". 

This pretentious mansion, built just after the Revolution, 
is specially distinguished as the birthplace of two bril- 



liant sons of Esquire Benjamin and Susannah (Cook) 
Walker — Timothy and Sears Cook ; the former a cele- 
brated Jurist ; tiie latter a renowned mathematician and 
astronomer. 

I'nder this roof tree was also born a half brother, the late 
Prof E. Otis Kendall, whose profound erudition brought 
to him the Deanship of the great Pennsylvania (Jniveisity. 
The original Walker house in this section antedated the 
present dwelling by fully 75 years ; and was the home of 
Captain Samuel Walker when our town was in its infancy. 



No. i9 



(Shawsheen Avenue) 

MIDDLESEX CANAL HOUSE. 

This was the place of entertainment ])rovided b\ ihe pro- 
prietors of the Middlesex Canal Corporation on the 
north bank of the canal — which was opened for travel 
in the year 1803. In the immediate vicinity were 
situated the " locks ", very substantial granite structures, 
the stone from which was used in building the cellar of 
the late Thomas D. Bond's house on Middlesex Avenue- 



No. 20 



(Park Street) 

"THE COWING HOUSE ", now owned and occuiMcd by Otis 
Cowing, a lineal descendant of the original settler of the 
name. Here may be seen a part of perhaps the first 
frame building erected in Wilmington. Here may be 
examined many treasured records of the family. Here 
may be seen the sole survivor of 4 elm trees planted by 
one of the family on the day the battle of Bunker's Hill 
was fought. Here may be gleaned from Mr Gowing 
many interesting facts relating to the history of a family 
whose name has always been prominent in our town. 



No. 21 



(Main Street — near Tevvksbury Line) 

"RICH CARTER HOUSE," the home of George M. Milligan, 
was built by Richard Thompson, who died in i 7 4 9 . It 
passed into the hands of Benjamin Jaquith in 1766, 
and later became the home of Jonathan Carter — whose 
son Rich, lived there until his death in 1888, at the ripe 
old age of 91 years and 8 months. This house is older 
than our town and a sturdy example of substantial 
construction. 

No. 22 

(Woburn Street, near Lowell St.) 

"PERRY HOUSE " built before i 7 3 6 , at which time it was 
owned by Hezekiah Winn, .'^bout 1788 it came into the 
hands of John Gowing, Jr., whose father. Captain John, 
was living in the " Swain " house nearby. It's a fine old 
place, and a most excellent type of the early Eighteenth 
centurv houses of the better class. 



No. 23 



(Near junction of Lowell and Main Streets.) 

THE FLAQQ PLACE." 

This house is older than its appears as viewed from Main 
Street. An examination of the building from the R.R. 
side shows its true character as a veteran. While perhaps 
the whole of this structure is not ancient, the main body 
was undoubtedly standing as early as 1720 — for James 
Thompson, Jr. lived here until he sold the place to 
Ebenezer Carter, in 1725. 



No, 24 



(Woburn Street, North Wilmington.) 

STANLEY FARH" owned by William H. Haley. Its name 
is suggestive of a former owner, David Stanley, who pur- 
chased the property ( 150 acres) , in i 782, from a descend- 
ant of Captain Ebenezer Jones who was killed in the 
French and Indian War, at " Half-way Brook ", in 1758. 
The original house, built by Capt. Jones about 1723, 
was torn down in i 8 8 i . 



A Word by the Author. 

I trust the people of Wilmington will accept this little pamphlet 
as an earnest of the vast amount of data I have collected for 
my history— now under consideration by the Town, and under- 
stand that the scope of this small work precludes the use of but 
fragments of the material at hand. 

Arthur Thomas Bond. 



JUL 25 1904 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



014 079 668 2 « 



